New hotel and food hall open in South MS. Here’s what’s special about it
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- OS 1515 Downtown opens with boutique hotel, food hall and local art focus.
- Crave Food Hall hosts eight chef-led vendors with integrated menus and seating.
- Public-private garage adds parking, green space and mural by Hoxxoh Hoekzema.
A boutique hotel with a community courtyard and South Mississippi’s first food hall is open in downtown Ocean Springs.
Planned and under construction at 1515 Government Street for six years, OS 1515 Downtown is designed to be a meeting place for the community and a living art display.
Even the architecture’s art, said Sara Oropesa, community outreach representative for OS 1515 Downtown.
The three buildings feature different styles of brick, with gas copper lanterns flickering along the sidewalk and balconies overlooking the street that is along the Mardi Gras parade route and is filled with art and cars during the Peter Anderson Festival and Cruisin’ The Coast. The Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center is in the next block and dozens of shops, restaurants and bars are within easy walking distance.
The building on the west is reminiscent of French New Orleans and soon will be home to shops, a spa, salon and pilates studio.
The middle building is the Warehouse and salutes the history of the site where E.R. Moore and later Swingster clothing factories operated. The food hall fills the first floor and spills out into the courtyard, and many of the condo units are above.
OS Hotel fills most of the third building designed with today’s more contemporary style. A community art gallery and public meeting space is on the first floor, where Desi Vega Steakhouse opens later this year.
The centerpiece is the three-story mural that internationally-renowned muralist Douglas “Hoxxoh” Hoekzema painted on the side of the entire south face of the parking garage, drawing inspiration from the local environment and Ocean Springs artist Walter Anderson’s water paintings.
Why a food hall?
Coast developers John Oropesa and Jim Hardin wanted to give guests at their OS 1515 the flavor of the Coast, from the art to the food.
“We hope OS 1515 Downtown becomes a gathering place for our community and a haven for artists — a place for everyone to enjoy and make memories,” Oropesa said.
Crave Food Hall, now open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, is one place that will bring friends and families together.
“How everything is presented,” is the difference between food courts and a food hall, said manager Todd Reilly. “A food court is a grouping of stalls that kind of just live together. We are integrated. Everybody is working together,” he said. The menus at Crave Food Hall are mindful of what the other chefs are featuring, he said.
Crave is cashless. Customers can come in, buy a slice of pizza and pay for it with their credit card. Or a family can come in and eat food from eight different restaurants, use a QR code, pay for everything with their phone and feel like they are all eating at one restaurant, he said.
Eight tasty choices
Instead of one big open space, Crave Food Hall has nooks and tables to seat 200 people indoors and out.
Proof is an inside/outside bar to serve both the food hall and the courtyard, and because OS 1515 has resort status, people can carry their drink as they move around the property.
A paintbrush art chandelier, custom created by Ferriss and Company in Jackson, is a fun splash of color over the space that has eight chef-driven restaurants to choose from. They include:
▪ Marcello’s Italian is expanding its reach from New Orleans to Ocean Springs, where classic Italian dishes like mama made will be the specialty.
▪ Mawi Tortillas, also operating in New Orleans, brings Central American cuisine with a Gulf Coast twist. Father-son duo, Carlos and Chef Will Avelar turn out dishes like Birria Tacos and Pupusas.
▪ Chicago 6ix Street Food comes from the owner of local Smoke ‘N Hoagies, and brings classic Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and personal pizzas to Crave.
▪ District Coffee Company opens its third location in South Mississippi and will serve breakfasts along with a big variety of coffees. The original Ocean Springs location just down Government Street will get a long-awaited expansion, said Anthony Portera, one of the owners. A wrap around balcony will be added and the place will be open at night, he said.
Local chefs Michael Paoletti Jr. and Stephanie Paoletti of Food Booze Hiccups really believe in the food hall concept and are opening three spots at Crave:
▪ Sugar Cubed will entice people with homemade croissants, danishes, macaroons, cheesecakes and other treats.
▪ Charcuterie Maker will let people choose from meats, cheeses and accompaniments to make their own charcuterie board to take home or out into the courtyard. They also will have sandwiches on homemade bread.
▪ Crude Raw Bar by Michael Pauletti will feature Eagle Point oysters and other favorite Coast seafood.
▪ A still unnamed vendor will provide healthy choices like acai bowls and juice bar.
Stay awhile and shop
The new hotel is welcoming guests with views of the courtyard or the city and art in every room. The work of local artists hangs in each of the 32 hotel rooms, along with the artist bio, and their pieces are for sale in the gallery.
Besides the comfort and style built into the guest rooms, the hotel is the only one in the downtown with an elevator. It also has ADA and hearing impaired rooms, complimentary Wi-Fi and pet-friendly accommodations.
Hotel rooms start at about $189 for a king suite, and several styles of rooms are available.
OS 1515 also has 14 condo loft units, 10 of which soon will be able to be rented on the hotel website.
Opening in the next phase of construction are new shops and health and beauty facilities. White Pelican is a ladies boutique, Price and Co. out of Hattiesburg is an upscale menswear store and Coral Boutique casual ladies wear is relocating to OS 1515.
Reform by Christina Pike, who has a big following on the Coast, will open her pilates studio at OS 1515 and a salon also is coming soon.
Welcome to the community
The first community celebration comes Saturday night, May 17, when Brooks Hubbert will play in the courtyard for the public. The intention is to have music a couple of times a week and other events to draw the community to the property.
It’s a family-friendly, non-smoking resort, with a designated smoking area near the parking garage.
The first floor of the garage is reserved for OS 1515 guests and the city is administering the 166 parking spaces on the second and third floors.
The parking garage covers one-third of the developers’ property. City officials approached the owners and asked if they would allow a parking garage in a public-private partnership. It turned out to be an asset and an amenity, Sara Oropesa said, because it is a public art display and it created a green space.
The resort provides 100 jobs, and from the beginning, was designed and built with the community in mind, she said.
The property was zoned commercial and only one variance was granted to hide the dumpster. The designers are local, and several live in Ocean Springs. Many of the subcontractors live on the Coast. Christian Preus, who landscaped the downtown and waterfront areas of Ocean Springs, also did OS 1515, and local artist Gretchen David created all the brand materials and merchandise for the resort to match the city’s and the resort’s art appeal.
